What is an Administrative Dispute?

What is an Administrative Dispute?

According to the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China, administrative disputes shall not be referred to arbitration. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between civil and administrative disputes.

What is an administrative dispute? To define an administrative dispute, the following elements must be considered:

1. The parties

An administrative dispute is a dispute between an administrative authority and another administrative authority or a subject (an individual, a legal entity, or an unincorporated entity), arising from or relating to the exercise of public power. That means, at least one party is an administrative authority representing public power.

2. Public power

An administrative dispute arises from the exercise of public power by a public authority or an authorized agent. If an administrative authority acts as an entity of equal legal status as the other party, such as in a procurement transaction, no public power is exercised and disputes arising therefrom are civil disputes.

3. Issue in dispute

The issue in dispute is whether the exercise of public power is legal and appropriate. During or after the exercise of public power by an administrative authority, the other party to the administrative relationship, i.e., another administrative authority, an individual, a legal entity, or an unincorporated entity, raises a challenge to the legality or appropriateness of the exercise of public power.